Tissue repair typically requires the surgeon to pass suture material through selected tissue, form a plurality of surgical knots extracorporeally and then move the knots into position adjacent the desired tissue to be sutured. In such procedures, the surgeon must tie the knots on the suture strands after the suture is threaded through the selected tissues to be sutured, and then cut the remaining suture strands from the surgical site. High strength suture materials, such as FiberWire®, for example, are difficult to cut mainly because of their increased strength.
An improved surgical instrument that acts both as a knot pusher instrument (forcing the knots down into the proper position) and as a suture cutter (cutting the ends of suture) is needed. An instrument that cuts suture clean and without difficulty, regardless of the strength of the suture material, is also needed.